A Harley Three-Wheeler That Leans
Thursday, March 9th, 2017
This is a photo Bob Mighell sent me to go with my Examiner article.
I’ve ridden motorcycle trikes a number of times, both those with two wheels up front and one in back and those with one wheel up front and two in back. I haven’t liked any of them because they drive too much like a car. The one exception is the Piaggio MP3 scooter that has two tilting wheels up front. That one handles like a real motorcycle.
That’s what’s really key: the ability to lean into a curve. And that brings me to Tilting Motor Works.
Several years ago I did an article about this company for Examiner.com. I’m going to quote a little from that article:
Motorcycle trikes are getting more and more popular, but at what cost? Sure, you’re on a “bike” and out in the elements, but the dang thing steers like a car. Certainly it is still more fun than a car but is this the best there is?
In a word: No.
Enter Tilting Motor Works, and Bob Mighell.
Bob Mighell is an engineer and a motorcyclist, as well as a sportscar enthuiast. Unlike most of us, when he decided he wanted something better, he was in a position to do something about it.
“I run around on these backcountry roads and I compare how fast I can take the cars through the corners and the bikes through the corners and I thought that the drawback to motorcycles, the limiting factor, is that one single front tire. So whereas I can drift my Porsche 911 around the corners, you don’t want to be drifting motorcycles because if you lose that traction on that front tire she’s all done. And so I thought well, wouldn’t that be cool if I could add another front wheel to a motorcycle and yet still make it handle like a motorcycle.â€
And that’s exactly what he did.
What the company offers is a conversion kit to turn a bike–mostly Harleys–into three-wheelers that–I’ve got to say it–tilt. Or lean. Just like on a regular motorcycle. From the website, here’s which bikes you can get this kit for:
The current production unit is designed to fit all models in Harley-Davidson’s Touring line including the Road King, Road Glide, Street Glide and Electra Glide models. We are now also equipped to handle Softails, Dynas, and V-Rods such as the Heritage Softail Classic, the Softail Deluxe, the Fat Boy, and the Super Glide. We can’t yet convert a Tri Glide or a Spyder! :-)
In addition, TMW can now convert the Honda Gold Wing GL1800 and F6B.
So anyway, a few years went by and I didn’t think much about them again until late last year I got a couple promotional emails. One was promoting a “Black Friday Flash Sale” offering five converted bikes at a $10,000 discount if you bought all five.
Then nearer Christmas there was another announcing four dealerships, in Snohomish, WA; Nashua, NH; Springfield, MO; and Greer, SC.
The first email suggested to me they’re not doing so well in the business but the second suggests the opposite. So I decided then that I wanted to put something up here about them because it seems like a really cool product, if you’ve got the cash. And make no mistake, these things aren’t cheap.
So if you’re getting on in years and thinking about hanging up the riding gear, this might be the thing to keep you on the road. I’m just passing the word along.
Biker Quote for Today
Life is a road, the soul is a motorcycle.
